KATHMANDU: Kathmandu Metropolitan City Mayor Balen Shah has said that the city’s fire engines were unable to reach Singha Durbar on September 9 immediately after the fire broke out because protesters blocked their way.
Amid widespread criticism over why the local government remained passive during the incident, Mayor Balen clarified through a Facebook post on Tuesday that the metropolis had tried to send fire engines but the demonstrators obstructed them.
“As soon as Singha Durbar caught fire, we attempted to send fire engines, but they couldn’t reach the site due to obstruction by protesters,” he wrote.
Balen also mentioned that although the Nepal Army had a fire engine inside the Singha Durbar premises, it was not able to intervene because of the ongoing unrest.
“The army’s fire engine was inside Singha Durbar, but the mob did not allow it to operate. Once the situation calmed down a bit, Kathmandu Metropolitan City’s fire engine reached the site around 8:15 p.m. on September 9,” he added.
During the Gen-Z movement on September 8 and 9, several government buildings and infrastructures across the country, including Singha Durbar, were vandalized and set on fire.
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